I solemly swear to keep posting, so long as people keep reading. Reviews are always welcome.

The early morning was misty and swirling with vapours as Kat drove to work. Today would begin her third week at the Jeffersonian, and she was proud she'd lasted this long. Most of Brennan's grad students had only lasted a couple of days. Though she suspected they'd hardly stood a chance; because they weren't Zack, and they were young.

Of course, she was nothing like Zack either—no one was. But Kat had worked hard to prove she was adequate for the job; she'd stayed extremely objective, focused on details, and avoided bringing herself to the table. Only with Hodgins was she willing to be her more charismatic self. Maybe when the others were more used to her, could she open up to them as well.

Swiping her pass card, Kat pulled into the employee parking lot, and headed towards what was now "her space". Already, Hodgins' work car was in its spot, next to hers, and Cam's vehicle could be seen closer to the door. Parking, she jumped out, and locked the Civic.

'Dr. Martin, can I have a word with you?'

Out of the mist, came Sweets—Brennan and Booth's sneaky psychologist. Kat had noticed him hanging around the lab, and tried to avoid him as much as possible. So far, she'd been successful, but today her luck had run out.

'Well you already have.' She said flatly. 'What is it, Dr. Sweets?'

'Are you a friend of Zack Addy?' He asked bluntly.

'I don't see how it's your business who my friends are; but how did you find out?'

'I saw Zack's visitation records, and noticed you visited him three Saturdays in a row—the first one being before you came to the Jeff.' Sweets replied. 'I have access because I'm his therapist—'

'So you're the crackpot shrink who declared him Non Compos Mentis?' Kat snapped, aware of the rising pitch of her voice.

'No!' Sweets said hastily. 'I wasn't allowed to. But I just wanted to know what he's told you about the events leading up to his institutionalization.'

'Zack told me the truth, Dr. Sweets. Something he's asked that I don't spread around.'

'I know he's sane, and I know he's innocent. I want to help him—but I'm bound by confidentiality.'

But she wasn't. Kat could see where the young man was going with this, and didn't like it. 'Leave it alone, doctor. If Zack were to lose an appeal, which you would need, his consent for; he would be incarcerated, possibly for twenty-five to life. Even if they didn't find him guilty of murder, he would be charged, and convicted as an accessory. I still know the laws of the U.S.; they would penalize him just as heavily.'

She tried to walk away, but Sweets stepped in front of her. 'There's no real evidence he hurt anyone other than himself. And a jury wouldn't convict a man under threat to person. With your help, and a good defence attorney, we could build a great appeal.'

He was convincing, and Kat wanted to believe him so badly… She wanted it to be possible that she could save Zack—make up for not being there in the first place. But there were so many risks; ones she wasn't sure they should even take.

'I want a thorough plan. Plus the co-operation of both Zack and Hodgins. If you can get those, you get my help.' She said decisively. 'Until then, the subject is closed.'

It wasn't until later, when she was pulling on a lab-coat in the locker room that she began to have second thoughts. Kat wasn't so sure she'd taken the right path with Sweets. Zack didn't want to go to jail so badly, there was a chance he'd be even less willing to take the risk. Without his co-operation, what were they supposed to do?

Hodgins sauntered into Angela's office, flopped onto the couch, and closed his eyes without a word. A full three hours of literally squinting through a microscope had left his eyes strained, and his head throbbing. Maybe it was time to get his eyes checked—or start getting a full night's sleep. He hadn't had one since Angela had moved back in with him.

'Headache?' she asked, coming to stand over him.

'Just need a break.' He replied lazily. 'Doesn't help that Kat's been chattering like a magpie.'

Angela shook her head. 'She's more like a lark to me. I've heard her singing, when she thinks she's alone at her workstation, or in Limbo. Kat's got a great voice; she likes singing Celine Dion, as well as a ton of stuff I never heard of.'

Hodgins was reminded of Zack humming Andrea Bocelli when he'd thought he was alone. Together, they could easily sing The Prayer on the karaoke machine in the den. He could just picture Zack—'

'—you've really taken that girl under your wing.' Angela was saying, ruining the mental image. 'It's a good thing I'm not the jealous type.'

'Kat's a good Anthropologist, and a nice kid. She reminds me of Zack sometimes. She'll be rattling off some mumbo jumbo, and I'll make a reference to something, and then her face goes so blank, and she says "I don't know what that means".'

Angela seemed surprised. 'I thought she was pretty with it—pop-culture wise.'

'Only up to five years ago.' He pointed out. 'Ethiopia isn't big on tabloids and TV.'

She nodded, and Hodgins noticed she was looking out the window, and over to where Kat was working in one of the examining rooms. 'Kat seems a little haunted to me; like she's putting on a brave face, but she's lost. Makes me wonder what might have happened to her, before coming here.'

Angela didn't know yet, Hodgins realized. If she didn't know, no one knew. 'Before Kat went over to Africa…she went to University with Zack—they were really good friends. Still are, I guess.'

The reaction was instantaneous. Angela's eyes immediately welled up full of tears. 'I can't imagine… coming home to that. It was shocking enough. But finding out all at once—'

Hodgins wiped away a tear that had escaped her eye. 'Kat's a strong young woman. I wouldn't pity her Ange—I admire her.'

'But that's still a lot to carry alone. We should do something Jack.'

'Kat hasn't asked for help yet. When she needs it, she will.'

Brennan was just getting into a paperwork frame of mind, when Booth strolled into her office. Immediately, he threw himself into a seat across from her, and put his feet up on the corner of her desk. He knew very well she hated it when he did this, but did it anyway.

'What's up Bones?'

'Besides your feet, which do not belong on my desk, nothing.' She said, pushing his feet aside. 'I'm trying to do a little work.' She picked up a memo from McGill University in Montreal. Like everyone else, they wanted her to be a guest lecturer. She hadn't been to Canada in a while though, and Quebec was beautiful in the late spring…

'So how come you're not out training the new Squint?' Booth asked, cutting through the thought and irritating her greatly.

'Kat has plenty of experience—she spent five years working in Africa. That's longer than Zack was with us.'

'I'd keep an eye on her Bones. Sweets seemed to think she's a fox, and he might plague the life out of her.'

Brennan was confused. 'Isn't she more romantically available if she's alive?'

Booth just shook his head, and she realized it was a figurative expression. Why did she always have trouble with those? 'However, Sweets needs to watch what he says and does.' She continued. 'Someday he will mess up, and it will cost someone dearly.'

Her intensity seemed to surprise Booth. 'You got something against Sweets Bones?'

'If Zack had been caught breaking out of McKinley, they would never discharge him. Sweets messed up enormously; he's too immature and irresponsible—'

'Hey…' He reached over, and put his hand over hers. 'It's not Sweets' fault. Zack can break out of the nuthouse any time he wants to. You and both know that. He's really too brilliant to be in there.'

'Brilliance is one thing, guilt is another. He's guilty enough to be in there.' Brennan said with a drop of bitterness. 'And I really, really hate that he's guilty.'

'I know Bones, I know.'

Cam was confused as she watched Kat arranging bones from another Limbo anatomically. Instead of overseeing her new assistant, Brennan was sitting in her office. Why she was letting Kat work alone already, when she wasn't yet accustomed to this particular work, was beyond her.

'Dr. Saroyan, I do not appreciate being watched so intently.' Kat said quietly yet clearly, startling Cam.

'I'm just confused as to what Dr. Brennan's line of thinking is. You shouldn't be working unsupervised yet.'

Shaking her head slightly, Kat repositioned a femur. 'This is mindless work. I arrange the skeletons, and then examine each bone for anything Dr. Addy might have missed. Mainly the ones he examined in his last few months of employment here.'

Cam's curiosity was piqued. 'Why is it you only use Zack's first name with Hodgins?'

Kat looked caught. 'Hodgins was his best friend… and so was I before I left.' She said with a bit of defiance. 'I didn't want everyone to know right away, so that I could get to know you all better first.'

'Have you been to see him?'

Kat nodded. 'My second day back. One of the people we knew in University sent me the article from the newspaper, when I asked if anyone had heard from Zack. He hadn't been responding to my emails—and it only took a couple of phone calls to find him.'

Now Cam felt guilty. 'I haven't gone to visit him at all. I only saw him when he broke out to consult on a case. Guess I'm not a very good friend.'

'Sometimes,' Kat said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. 'It can take time to find the strength you need to face what's most difficult.'

'You would know?'

'Someday I'm going to have to tell someone I care a lot about something very painful. I just keep hoping that someday isn't tomorrow.'

Angela and Cam reached Brennan's office at the same time, just as Booth was leaving. 'I wouldn't go in there. Bones is doing paperwork, and you know how she gets.'

The two women shook their heads, and simultaneously pushed past him, through the door.

'Sweetie, did you know Kat knows Zack?' Angela asked in an almost accusatory tone.

'Apparently they're best friends.' Cam added. 'She told me just a few minutes ago.'

'No one mentioned anything like that to me.' Brennan replied distractedly. 'Why?'

'Because it's totally huge!' Angela exclaimed in frustration. 'What am I supposed to say to her? "Did Zack believe everything if it was logical in University? Did he tell you he was under the thumb of a serial killer who cooked people?"'

'You know, this does explain why she seems so sad sometimes.' Brennan muttered, peering at a phone slip. 'I always thought she would tell us eventually.'

Cam heaved an exasperated sigh, and pulled the slip of paper from her hand. 'You should have asked Kat ages ago. That's what a good boss does. My only question, is what we should do.'

'Easy.' Angela smiled mischievously. 'We'll distract her. Take her to the club, or the opera, or whatever you guys want to do. If we keep her busy, she won't have time to mope about Zack.'

Brennan could see numerous flaws in her best friend's plan, but decided not to argue. Sometimes it was better to let things play out by themselves, she thought. Then again, decisions regarding the living were never exactly her forte.

'Dr. Martin, what's up?'

Booth's voice seemed to startle the young woman, who immediately dropped the magnifying lens she had been peering through intently. 'Agent Booth, please don't sneak up on me like that.'

'Sorry,' He apologized. 'I didn't mean to scare you Kat. What are you looking at?'

'One of the skulls Zack stole canine teeth from.' She said, and then realized her slip.

'I figured you knew him.' Booth said with a chuckle. 'We couldn't let you work with the FBI without a background check. I noticed you were in a lot of classes together.'

Kat nodded. 'Zack and I are still good friends. I, uh, go visit him on Saturdays.'

'Every Saturday, at McKinley?'

'This is the girl who'd spend her Saturdays in Africa, digging in ancient graves.'

Booth shook his head. 'Why you'd want to spend five years in Africa—the third world—I have no idea.'

Kat raised her eyebrows. 'Is it so different from going to the middle east to serve your country? I went to serve my profession; we discovered things that will greatly impact what Dr. Brennan teaches in her Anthropology classes. They'll change what we know about ourselves as an early people.'

Didn't you miss your life here?' He pressed.

'Of course! But it was a good experience. Maybe I can look back, and see reasons why I shouldn't have gone, but I can also see there were a lot of reasons to go. And I loved it out there.'

'Would you go back for another dig?'

Kat stared down at the skull on the table before her—the one her best friend had compromised. 'I could never go back now. Zack's here, so I need to be here; for both of us.'